ABSTRACT
Research continues to increase at a critical juncture between the fields of communication and health care, particularly disclosures of illnesses. As the number of patients with chronic illnesses as such as AIDS and cancer continues to increase, more people must decide how to balance decisions to reveal or conceal their illnesses. Disclosure is widely recommended by health care practitioners, in part due to the link between disclosure and physical and mental health. Decisions to disclose chronic illness, however, are threatening and problematic for many patients. Stigma surrounding illness has contributed to the unwillingness to disclose. People must balance competing needs to obtain benefits from disclosure yet avoid negative consequences from sharing.
